All posts tagged ‘edgar allan poe’

Dakster Sullivan is in the process of deciding on what to take with her to Megacon 2013. This is her favorite convention of the year, so she is super excited to find something simple, cute and awesome! If you have any ideas, leave her a comment! She’d love to hear your cosplay ideas.

Kathy Ceceri is headed out to Syracuse, NY this weekend to show kids how to make Mini Robot Walkers. She’ll also get in some face time with her son the Electronic Game Development student. This week’s event at the Saratoga Springs Barnes & Noble showing off projects from the Geek Mom and Robotics activity books was so much fun, she’s going to be returning next month to do science with the monthly Homeschooler’s Workshop.

Rebecca Angel is looking forward to cooking some yummy food for a local shelter this weekend with her kids. Something they have done before, but never enough. They get to eat with the residents, not just serve, which is the best part.

Amy is preparing for Ozzfest 2012, her son Ozzie’s 2nd Birthday party. It’s going to be hard to top last year’s Ozzfest, but a Cinco de Mayo party with margaritas (for the grown-ups) might do it.

Dakster Sullivan is anxiously awaiting the reveal of her latest costuming build, Project X. She hopes to debut it alone side her husband and son at a Free Comic Book Day troop on Saturday. Stay tuned on GeekMom next week for its official unveiling. Dakster Sullivan Free Comic Book Day

Kelly Knox is celebrating the launch of her husband’s latest MMORPG, TERA! She’s also looking forward to her in-laws visiting next week and taking them to the Pacific Science Center for the first time.

Lalalala! Marziah can’t hear you this week, because she’s busy having an awesome time at Space Camp!

Rebecca Angel is busy making a video for the Internet Prom. In her head it’s absolutely hilarious, but then again, everything in her head is. She is also having an epic role-playing game with six kids in her homeschooling group. It’s based on the Percy Jackson series, and the kids are all demi-gods. They had a particularly crazy episode last week that has left them separated and lost in the underworld, trying to figure out why Hades wants to take over a city. So fun!

Patricia is wrapping up a VERY busy week between her sons’ baseball games, Cub Scouts and wrapping up her year as an officer in her local Air Force base’s spouses’ club. She was honored and flattered to have been nominated for a Hurlburt Field Angel Award for her volunteer work in 2011 and had the chance to attend a lovely award ceremony at the base yesterday. She didn’t win, but lost to a more-deserving fellow Geeky Mom). She was most flattered that her dear husband rescheduled a trip to Arizona so that he could be sitting by her side during the ceremony.

Kristen Rutherford is London bound on Friday! She’s heading across the pond to shoot some segments for the upcoming Nerdist specials on BBC America. Things she’s looking forward to: Checking out the new LOTR sets at the LEGO show (where she is sadly missing Geek Mom Sophie by one day), buying toys at Forbidden Planet, checking out the Yayoi Kusama exhibit at the Tate Modern, and producing a segment with John Barrowman. She’s trying to say that like it’s no big whoop, but it’s not really working. What does a heart attack feel like?

Laura’s family thinks she’s stranger than usual. She is using blue jeans to keep weeds down in her garden, reminiscing about her early career as a spy and wearing silly sunglasses. She says strangeness runs in the family and hence, her kids are all doomed.

Chaos Mandy is still getting into the groove of being a working mom after over three years as a stay at home mom. She is hoping for a relaxing weekend that includes a trip to the movies to see The Avengers in 3D.

The Mother’s Day gift guide is an easy one for us GeekMoms–all we have to do is list what we want. Chances are your GeekMom will enjoy some of the things on this list as well, and she’ll appreciate the creativity and ingenuity in your gift buying.

Nothing says zombie apocalypse like wearing a zombie virus around your neck. This necklace uses glo glass that collects light and will glow in the dark. This and other glowing jewelry can be found from Raven’s Rest.

Instead of presenting flowers to your GeekMom in a plain vase of water, try out these delightfully different Water Beads for a colorful twist. The package of very small beads will swell up into a vase full of pearlescent orbs to keep your flowers upright and hydrated.

For something your GeekMom can play with the whole family, how about Awkward Family Photos, the board game? Some GeekMoms may be relieved to see there are other families out there even stranger than hers.

Think of the underwater possibilities! Photo: Nicole Wakelin

The outdoor-loving GeekMom will love the LifeProof iPhone case that will let her take all the pictures she wants this summer without worrying about sand and water destroying her phone. It really can swim with the fish!

Show mom you care with a set of pewter tentacles. Photo: Dellamorte & Co.

Perhaps the biggest ticket item the GeekMoms would like is a Brother PE770 embroidery machine that embroiders any design you can computer generate. Think of the Etsy side business and the ability to map imaginary realms on any t-shirt!

The GeekMoms would also like world peace, ecological harmony, thick hair, a backyard pergola, and possibly an animatronic dinosaur.

I’m a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe, so naturally I’d been looking forward to the new movie The Raven starring John Cusack. I just love John Cusack, and his casting as Poe seemed like rather a creative choice, if only because for once the role of a dark and brooding romantic figure was going to someone other then Johnny Depp.

This past Friday I saw the film, and to be frank I’ve got mixed feelings. It’s taken me a few days to digest my thoughts and sort them out into something coherent.

Ultimately I’ve decided that I liked the film, with some caveats. Director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) definitely delivered visually. The look is gothy without being heavy handed, and he managed to throw in some subtle trendy steampunk elements too. Cogs! Gears!

(Downton Abbey fans take note, Bates is the bartender during a scene in a Pub!)

Here’s the thing: If you are a Poe fan, well, we both know you are going to see this film. To heighten your enjoyment of it I have a tip for you. Imagine that this is Poe in an alternate universe. Just as Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter did not really happen in our world, so too is this Poe of a different plane. If you put that thought in your head before you see the movie, I think you will be fine.

At the very least it will help you accept the inexplicable goatee on Mr. Cusack’s chin, and his blonde girlfriend.

The film does a good job of mimicking Poe’s style of fiction in its portrayal of its own themes. It’s scary, no doubt. Scary with depth. Rated R, this is a film for date night, not family night. If you don’t like Friday the 13th level gore, then aside from some pretty intense flinging blood and flashes of wounded dead people, I think you’ll be fine.

Oh — there is that heart on the desk, but that was for anatomical research, so that doesn’t count.

Most of the more distasteful legends of Poe’s personality come from a man who was his bitter rival during his life, and who became, astonishingly, the executor of Poe’s literary estate after his death. This man, Rufus Griswold, devoted the remainder of his own life to destroying Poe’s reputation and penning a memoir full of outright lies and forgeries.

An early scene in The Raven shows terrible treatment of this same bitter rival, a scene that had me cheering and hoping for a script that was more sympathetic to Poe the man, as opposed to the legend. Surely a screenwriter who treated Griswold so unkindly would give us a more richly shaded portrait of Poe himself? I’m still on the fence as to whether we got it or not.

Quoth the Raven...

I suspect that over time The Raven will make it to my top 20 list of films that I like to watch again and again. With all its flaws, cliches and contradictions, this film has, in the end, stayed with me even days later. Cusack’s performance, while different then I expected, stands out in my mind. I’ve replayed bits of his moody monologues in my head. In that respect, The Raven lives up to its inspiration.

Dakster Sullivan is working hard on her latest secret project, Project X. Her goal is to have it completed this week with the possibility of debuting it at a troop on Saturday. Only four people know exactly what Project X is and they all agree that she is looking awesome! Stay tuned during Star Wars week (May 4th thru May 10th) for its official debut on GeekMom.

Nicole Wakelin is desperately awaiting the return of her phone from being waterproofed by Liquipel and getting ready for a trip to Austin, Texas to review the new Dodge Dart!

Rebecca Angel is finally feeling well. Just in time for her birthday. She would also like to send a shout out to Tess, who is making her confirmation this coming week and asked Rebecca to be her sponsor. Rebecca is flattered and proud. Now to figure out what to wear!

Chaos Mandy is hoping for a lazy weekend of reading and enjoying the sunshine. It will include her and her husband’s new tradition of playing a couple of games of Magic: The Gathering with The Guild on in the background.

Laura is working on another big project. The amped up effort to focus sets off her internal Distract Me button. When she’s not flicking over to Pinterest she’s posting all sorts of links and images on her Free Range Learning FB page. In fact, her wandering attention has inspired her to make homemade bagels and clean out a closet this week. Somehow the project will get done too.

Natania has officially cruised into her 39th week of pregnancy, and is definitely ready to meet her little girl. Not to mention having her brain back. Eventually…

Kathy Ceceri enjoyed her quick trip to Montreal for the opening of the “Star Wars Identities” exhibit at the Montreal Science Centre. While there, she also managed to snag some of her favorite bagels (yes, they are worth crossing the border for!). She was most pleased that she ended up with a lot of nice photos, which she has added to the photos on the GeekMom Facebook page. Back at home, she’s busy booking visits to schools and libraries with activities from her upcoming Robotics book.

Corrina spent last week having fun with the minion on their spring break, including the first use of Six Flags season passes. She’s also near the finish line of the steampunk detective novel that she’s been working on far too long.

Marziah was awarded a Publications Award by Johnson County Community College.

Melissa Wiley has been having a ball brushing foxes and feeding sloths on the new Glitch streets! In the real world, she’s on a major spring-cleaning jag thanks to the daily inspiration from Lesley Austin’s (subscription-based) Wisteria & Sunshine forum.

Brigid is working on so many things at once her head his spinning. But her favorite project right now is a series of illustrations for an Edgar Allan Poe project. Follow her progress on her Facebook Fanpage.